Re-Porter Blog: The Porter Report #1

A True Big Deal In The Resistance

In Response To John Boyega and Finn's Impact on The Sequel Trilogy & Star Wars

By Brandon Porter

    We all have moments where we feel our actions and hard work are not rewarded or recognized. Like we are led to believe we are destined for something great and because it doesn't happen the way we envision it, we feel like our time and energy has been wasted. To me, this is the danger of taking things at face value. So caught up in surface-level thinking we don't truly see the beauty of what we create or help build. To add a little bit of context to this intro, a GQ interview was published earlier this week that featured John Boyega, star of Star Wars Episodes 7 through 9, expressing his view on his role in the closing trilogy of The Skywalker Saga. What was said in the article was raw, unfiltered, uncensored, and brutally honest. I won't go into too much detail but from my account, his view is he feels his character's story was pushed to the side and wasn't important to the overall narrative. Other things came up like the notion that the new Star Wars trilogy dropped the ball on the representation of people of color and sidelined those same people's characters for the nuanced characters with lighter pigmentations. While I got plenty of opinions on that topic, for the sake of time (and personal sanity) I'm leaving that alone. One quote from John that really stuck with me and quite frankly hurt me was when he mentions that you shouldn't market a black character as important and then just push them aside. When I read that quote, I was partly hurt that he felt that way but also puzzled that he feels like he was just tossed to the side when his character's story, now looking at it as a whole, is actually pretty inspiring and engaging at least for me.

Let me first emphasize that John Boyega is one of my favorite actors in the business. It's hard not to be in awe of this dude's swagger, poise, and personality. A class act in every sense of the word who deserves every blessing that comes his way. That is what makes this entire article both eye-opening and a bit upsetting. Boyega should definitely be applauded for having the guts to speak his mind without fear of potentially being blackballed in the industry. Not a lot of actors or actresses of color could do that. But the question I raise is...Were me and John watching the same movie? Right from the jump, I was intrigued by the character of Finn. What was he doing in a stormtrooper outfit? Is he a spy? A deserter? a man running from duty? The fact that he is played by someone of African/African-American descent was just a bonus. I try my best to not look at things through a racial lens when it comes to films because it just creates a mental conundrum that kills what is supposed to be a fun time at the movies. Plus, looking at things through a racial lens opens doors for vitriolic and nasty verbal confrontations.



Getting to know who John was before I saw him on screen made me more excited to see him play a character in a franchise I've loved since childhood. When I finally saw him as Finn in The Force Awakens, I was incredibly interested in where his story would go in the latter two installments. As the series progressed, I put together all the pieces and find his story quite uplifting and filled with hope. Let's start from the beginning. Finn's biggest desire in Episode VII is to escape the first order. To run from the entity that stole his old life from him, brainwashed him, and turned him into an obedient weapon of war. He wants out of the life he's been forced to live. He's a child with no home, no identity, no name. Just a number with a blaster and orders. Once he rescues Poe, he starts to kind of craft his own personality and identity. It all starts with Poe dubbing him Finn, the first time he had something of his own in years. Over the course of his story, he still has that selfish desire to run away and disappear but circumstances change him for the better.

On multiple occasions, Finn proves he's more valuable standing up and fighting than running. He starts to see that running from the problems of the world is just as bad as contributing to them. A lesson he learned first hand in The Last Jedi after seeing DJ sell out the Resistance survivors to save his own skin. That lesson among others is the main reason why Finn isn't just a great Star Wars character, he is an example of the power one can have when they stop running and start fighting for the good of others. It's what kept him alive in his battle with the riot trooper, it's what gave him the edge over Phasma, and it's what turned him into a beacon of leadership for the Resistance as he led his regime to victory as a general in the Battle of Exogol in Episode IX. It's an arc that may not have the intended impact that some wanted but for me, it is an arc with moments I appreciate more and more as the days go by.

One example, in particular, is this scene from The Rise of Skywalker

When I saw this scene in the theater, It became one of my favorite moments of the movie and possibly the entire saga. Finn and Jannah back to back. Both were taken from their homes, both made to serve an oppressive establishment, both broke free, both forged a new identity and both are now leading an ARMY against the very establishment that took so much from them to ensure future generations won't suffer what they have suffered, and both...look like me. For me, this was one of the most pro-black moments in Star Wars history and no one talks about it. Think about it: two BLACK characters leading an entire army against an oppressive regime in an effort to prevent future children from suffering the same psychological torture they went through. What is there not to love about this sequence and it's symbolism? I had the biggest "hell yeah" face on when this happened and this was one example of why Finn is one of my favorite characters in the new trilogy.

It's a feeling that I didn't think I would get watching a Star Wars film but it is one I am overjoyed to have. This is why it puzzles me that John feels like he was pushed aside like he does. Trust me, if he was truly pushed aside he would not have made it past Episode VIII but that's just me. To clarify, John has every right to feel the way he does and say what he wants about how things went down. But what I would say to him if I could is this: Just because YOU feel your character wasn't important or impactful doesn't mean he wasn't. Finn's story may not be as "nuanced" as Rey or Kylo Ren's but it's still is a full arc of a man who once wanted to run from the problems of the world choose to stand up and secure a better future for those who will come after him. 

I would argue that despite what John, critics, analysts, and fans have to say, Finn, to me, is a Star Wars character I am personally really connecting to more and more as the months past since the trilogy's conclusion. Not just because he's played by someone black. But because I see the overall value in the story that was given instead of harping on what could have or should have been. You can go on and on about execution or think I'm making excuses cause I like a series of movies that you don't. But in this Star Wars fan's humble opinion and it is an opinion, I'm certain that when the current and future generations who are gonna grow up with these movies start to have a voice, some will see John's performance, his character, these movies, and his story the way I see it now...A big deal.